Emergency air-brake appliance.



No. 865,198 PATENTED SEPT. 3, 1907.

- H. W MEIGS. I

' EMERGENCY AIR BRAKE APPLIANCE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23, 1907.

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' 'INVENTOI? HIHAMWMEIBS.

AITO/YNEKS H. w. MEIGSQ EMERGENCY AIR BRAKE APPLIANCE.

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'PATENTED SEPT. a; 1907.-

77VVENTOR HIRAMWMEIB s v ATTORNEYS HIRFAM w-. MEIGS, or BIRMINGHAM, A AAMA.

EEERGENGY AIR-BRAKE arrms n'cn.

Specification of'L'etters Patent.

i Patented Sept. 3, 1907.

Application no Karol! 23,1907. Serial li 364,610.

To all when} it may cmwern:

Be it known that I, HIRAM W. Mares, a citizen of the United States, anda'resident of Birmingham, in the county of J efierson and State ofAlabama, have invented an Improved Emergency Air-Brake Appliance, ofwhich the following is a, specification.

' My invention is an improvement in that class of emergency stops forrailway trains in which a movable de' vice is attached to a fixedobject, or structure, located alongside the track and is adapted forengagement with'an attachment 'on the locomotive, or the cars, wherebyan alarm signal may be given, or air pressure in the train-be reduced soas to cause the instant application of the'brakes.

The construction, arrangement, and operation of .my invention areas'hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing,in which Figure 1 is a'view showing my emergency stop mechanism. appliedto a' locomotive and to a signal post alongside'the track. Fig. 2 is aview of the same parts, but at right angles to theview shown in Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the engaging parts of the stop mechanismwhich are connected respectively with atrain-pipe and a post arrangedalongside the track.

A indicates, a portion of a locomotive, which is shown in rear end viewin Fig- 1 and in side view in Fig. 2.

It is provided withthe usual air train-pipe 1 which, in practice,connects the locomotive withthe several cars of a train and in which airpressure is maintained to the degree required to hold the brakes off. Apipe 2 is attached to the train pipe 1 and extends vertically above thecablof the locomotive where it is provided with lateral branches 3 whoseupper ends curve inward toward each other, as shown in Fig. 1. To theopposite alined ends 3 of pipes 3 isappl ied a connecting piece A whichmay be constructed of flexible hose .vortic alpost B,'or upon whose endsare forced over theends 3". of the air-pipes andare thus adapted to bedetached when .suificient traction is applied to the attachment. It isobvious that if the pipes 4 be detached, air will escape from the pipes3, 2, and 1 and the brakes will be instantly applied t roughout thetrain. In place of applying the attachment to a locomotive it may beapplied to any car of a train; f I

For operating, that is, for detaching, the train-pipe xlcvice 4 and'thuscausing automatic application of the brakes, I employthe followingmechanism. Upon a any other suitable support, arranged alongside thetrack'I pivot a bar 5, the same belug arranged in a plane at rightangles to the track and having at tlieendthat projects over the track ahook 6- 3-which is adapted for-engagement see Figs. 2 and ent. .The baris shown Yiththe train=pipe attac angle,

be allowed iree in Fig. 1 by full lines-in the raised position and tocause its engagement with the device 4,it must obviously be lowered tothe position shown by dotted lines Fig. 1 and by full lines Fig. 2For'this purpose any suitable mechanism may be employed, butin thisinstance I show a simple hand-operated mechanism comprising a verticalrod 7, an elbow lever 8, and a horizontal' rod 9, the latter extendingto any'point where it may be connected with a lever or other device tobe operated by a train despatcher or sighalmanfas the case may be. andthe rod 7 connects it with the shorter arm of the bar, or lever,- 5. Itwill be seen in Fig. 2 that the point' or free end of the book 6 isdepressed, or open at a wide which will insure its engagement with thetrainpipe attachment 4. In Fig. 3 the said attachment 4 is illustrateddiagrammatically as detached. or torn away from the train pipes 3". Thebar 5 is connected by a rod 10 with an obtuse-angle lever 11 pivoted toa bracket on the post B and in turn connected by a rod 12 with asemaphore 13, which, as usual, may be painted red and. thus adapted toserve as a danger sig- The elbow lever is pivoted to the post B nal. Thedottedlines indicate the position of the semaphore when raised to give adanger signal.

It is ob vious that it is put in this position by'the same movement ofthe mechanism 7, 8, 9, by which the bar .5 is

lowered to the position required for engagement of its hook with thetrain-pipe attachment 4.. In other words, the operator at the signalstation always places the pipes-5, 6, in operative position at" the sametime that he shows the danger signal. not hced the danger signal andstop his train before reaching the post B, the train will. beautomatically manner beioredescribed. In other words, it is thus madeimpossible for a train to pass a danger signal even when the engineer,from carelessness or other Thus, should an engineer brought to a stop'byrelease of the attachment 4 in the cause, fails to bring his train to. astandstill at the required place.

What I claim is The combinatlon'wlth a track and locomotive and aconnected. with the locomotive; of an air brake system, said pipe 2extending through the root of the loco-, motive, and having branch pipes3 whose free ends curve inward towards each other, and a detachable:plpe section 4 which normally connects such ends, and an apparatusarranged alongside the-track, the same comprising vertical post and anarm pivoted thereto and provided at its free end with shook, which,-when the bar is swung down over the track, will engage the attachment 4and release it from its connection, for the purpose specified.

. lllRAM W. MEIGS Witnesses:

SJ. W Huvxuig' Jno, H. Farm.

